Obviously there are many people who have problems and will need professional help. I will discuss the five stages of counseling and how to build a proper relationship to help a person turn their life around. As a future counselor, these steps will be so vital and important to my success as a counselor. The best way to help a person is by establishing a solid relationship with them. People want to feel comfortable in anyone’s presence; they want to be confident that they can trust their therapist or counselor and be prepared to work hard for the counselor.
I know that throughout my life as I have started friendships, this process is also the most important. If any factors such as respect, trust, psychological comfort (Hackney and Cormier, 2013) were missing, than there was no need for further friendship. I believe that if this stage does not happen in counseling then my student or client will go elsewhere for help. If I fail to have that “participatory involvement” (Hackney and Cormier, 2013), than I have no client. There are going to be circumstances that the person has some previous experiences that limits there need or want to share.
It is important that the counselor watches their “nonverbal and verbal messages” (Hackney and Cormier, 2013) as the client will be making judgments on these. In this stage it is so important to keep and maintain a rapport. I know that I will constantly be taking notes on clients and creating files. This way I have previous knowledge of the client,to always look at before a session begins. Again, the client wants to feel safe, they needs to be able to believe there is hope for their future, and essentially need to build their relationship with their counselor.
The next stage is to “assess or define the presenting problem” (Hackney and Cormier, 2013). This is in the “process of establishing a relationship, a second process is under way” (Hackney and Cormier, 2013). This where a counselor is asking the client , what are they doing wrong and why are they doing it? Only when the counselor, and the client can figure out what is going wrong. The therapist will have read and written case notes and interviewed the client. It is vital that the person adds to this assessment. It is important that the client must be able to recognize what they have done or needs to be done.
It is important to realize that a client’s problem could be one of the following areas “needs, stressors, life conditions, misinterpretations, dysfunctional social patterns, or combination of these factors” (Hackney and Cormier, 2013). In addition, maybe using “chunks to facilitate student or counselor learning” (Salomone, 1993). Obviously, this assessment may take numerous sessions. It may take many session to see the client’s position. Next is a move to the stage where goals are set. Goals are so important because it is a way to grade the counseling.
By setting goals, the client and counselor can see the progess of the sessions by seeing what goals are being made and which are not. The counselor needs to not impose goals without the consent and contribution of the client will not be the way to conduct goal setting. If the client can set the goals, then so be it, but ultimately, the counselor “has the advantage of greater objectivity, training in normal and abnormal behaviour, and experience in the process” (Hackney and Cormier, 2013). It is important that goals have to be achievable, simple goals to begin with and increase their degree of difficulty so success comes the way of the client.
It is important to keep the goals clear and have deadlines…. Setting goals alone is not good enough, it is the follow through of those goals that must take place. During the fourth stage, the therapist and counselor must collaborate to accomplish the goals of what is upon to reach the treatment plan. During this stage the client is educated on treatment options and techniques that may help them too cope or relax. “The real issue is in talking about interventions and that it is change and how it occurs” (Hackney and Cormier, 2013).
It is integral to the outcome of treatment that the client is included in their solution. The counselor ensures that goals are well articulated and defined. The treatment plan should be adaptable as “not all interventions work with all clients, or as well as one might predict” (Hackney and Cormier, 2013). I believe that counseling is similar to coaching sports that I did for many years. The first thing that comes to me is coaching volleyball, every team was different and I had to change and adapt to each team so the goal of winning was the result.
I believe that counseling is the same as “that effective ounseling would be wise to include coaching concepts as part of the standard curriculum. As counselors, we are concerned with prevention, and one of the best prevention activities we can undertake is to move beyond just counseling and start coaching clients on how to address the issues of life more effectively” (Ivey & Ivey, 2009). A counselor in this stage has empowered the troubled client with the skills to enable the goals to be achieved. The counselor teaches life skills so that if these are followed, there is an excellent chance of success in their goals.
Then finally comes the termination process stage. It is important that the counselor is “recognizing the signs, anticipating the creative crisis, and laying the groundwork for a successful termination” (Hackney and Cormier, 2013. It may take some time for all this to be completed. Follow up appointments to make the clients feel secure it important for the mental safety of the client (Hackney and Cormier, 2013) . The aim throughout the entire and on-going process is to build the skills and the confidence of the troubled client. It is important to realize that the clients can stand on their two feet and become a valued and valuable member of society. These five stages are so essential in becoming a good counselor.
References
Hackney, H. & Cormier, S. (2013). The Professional Counselor: A Process Guide to Helping. (7th ed. ) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Ivey, Allen & Ivey, Mary. (2009). Bringing coaching and coaching skills into professional counseling. Counseling Today, July ,48-52 . Salomone, Paul R. (1993). Annual review: practice and research in career counseling and development Career Development Quartely, 42(2) p99.
